The 1980–81 season was the 57th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 22nd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the Balkans Cup. The season began on 7 September 1980 and finished on 14 June 1981.
Kits
Overview
AEK entered the decade, essentially closing one of their most successful historical periods, since this season was the last year of Loukas Barlos in the administration of the club. That was the second championship since the establishment of the professional football in Greece. AEK did not compete in any UEFA competitions this year and thus they played in the Balkans Cup instead.
With their former player that won the 1962–63 championship, Miltos Papapostolou on the bench, AEK started the league ideally achieving 6 wins in a row. Among others, they beat PAOK at Toumba Stadium and Olympiacos at Nea Filadelfeia Stadium and thus they were deemed by many as favorite for the title from early on. During that season AEK set the all time ticket record at home, after the 36,766 tickets that were sold in the league game against Panathinaikos. However, the continuation was not proportionate.
The second round of the Championship was not good for the team, culminating in the derby with Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium. AEK went down in the match having 2 points less than the first Olympiacos and were looking for the victory that would bring them on the top of the table. Nevertheless, they play a terrible game and a disastrous second half, where they conceded 5 goals in 27 minutes and experienced one of the worst defeats in their history by 6–0. However, the defeat and the match was overshadowed by the tragic events at gate 7 of the stadium, where the fans, trying to leave the field, were trapped and many were trampled, resulting in the death of 21 people and the injury of more than 50 people. Despite AEK having by far the best attack of the league with 63 goals, they were betrayed by their mediocre defensive performance and at the end of the season AEK finished at the second place five points behind Olympiacos, but were not qualified for any European competition, carrying a ban from the previous season.
In the first round of the Cup, AEK eliminated Egaleo winning them by 6–2 at home. Afterwards, they faced the title-holder, Kastoria at home for the second round and they qualified for the round of 16, beating them by 2–0. There, they faced Panathinaikos and despite losing by 3–2 at the first leg, they managed to win the by 1–0 at home and got the qualification on away goals. In the quarter-finals they were drawn against Aris. The first leg ended in a 2–2 draw at home, but with the 0–1 win away from home in the rematch they passed through the club of Thssaloniki only to be drawn against the other club of the city, PAOK for the semi-finals. AEK were eliminated with defeats at both legs without managing to score a single goal.
In the Balkans Cup, AEK were placed in the group with Velež Mostar and Flamurtari. Since all three clubs finished on par with 2 wins and 2 defeats, Velež Mostar were qualified to the final of the institution, since they had a better goal ratio.
When the season was over and after seven years of ownership, Loukas Barlos left AEK Athens as a result of the dire financial situation that came from his involvement with the club, but also due to his inability to adapt to the new model of professional football, fearing alienation through the professionalism that was entering into the field of football. Moreover, Dušan Bajević, one of the stars of the team and their top scorer in the season, left with him as well.
Management team
Players
Squad information
NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 14 June 1981, 23:59 UTC+3.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers Nikos Christidis GK 1976 Aris ₯1,500,000 1984 Lakis Stergioudas GK 1972 Niki Poligyrou ₯36,000 1985 Spyros Ikonomopoulos GK 1979 AEK Athens U20 — 1984 Dimitris Alafogiannis GK 1981 AEK Athens U20 — 1986 Defenders Lakis Nikolaou (Vice-captain) CB / RB / ST / RW 1971 Atromitos ₯600,000 1982 Giannis Mousouris RB / RM / ST 1977 AEL ₯2,500,000 1982 Giorgos Rigas CB / RB / DM 1980 Kavala Free 1982 Michalis Tzirakis CB / RB / RM 1980 OFI ₯8,000,000 1985 Giorgos Kalogeropoulos LB 1979 Panionios Free 1984 Petros Ravousis (Captain) CB / RB 1972 Aetos Skydra Free 1985 Vangelis Paraprastanitis LB / CB / DM 1980 Trikala ₯4,000,000 1985 Stelios Manolas RB / CB 1980 AEK Athens U20 — 1984 Lysandros Georgamlis RB / CB / DM / LB 1980 AEK Athens U20 — 1985 Midfielders Kostas Eleftherakis AM / CM / RM 1980 Panathinaikos Free 1981 Franjo Vladić AM / RM / LM / SS / CM 1979 Velež Mostar Free 1981 Petros Karavitis DM / CB / CM / LB / LM / LW 1980 Olympiacos Free 1983 Christos Ardizoglou RM / LM / RW / LW / AM / RB / LB 1974 Apollon Athens ₯12,000,000 1982 Spyros Thodis CM / AM / DM 1979 Anagennisi Karditsa ₯4,000,000 1984 Vangelis Vlachos AM / CM / RM / LM 1979 AEK Athens U20 — 1984 Forwards Dimitrios Gesios ST 1980 Iraklis ₯1,500,000 1985 Dušan Bajević ST / SS 1977 Velež Mostar Free 1981 Dimitrios Papadopoulos ST / RW 1980 OFI Free 1982 Thomas Mavros ST / LW 1976 Panionios ₯10,000,000 1983 Manolis Kottis ST / LW / RW 1980 Rodos ₯7,500,000 1985 Thomas Stafylas ST / RW / LW / RM / LM 1979 AEK Athens U20 — 1984 Left during Winter Transfer Window Dimitris Argyros CB / LB 1979 Kastoria ₯7,000,000 1984 Tasos Konstantinou RW / SS / ST / RM / AM 1972 EPA Larnaca ₯600,000 1981 Giorgos Chatziioannidis ST 1979 AEK Athens U20 — 1984
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource KavalaFree transfer30 June 1985 OFI₯8,000,00030 June 1985 Trikala₯4,000,00030 June 1985 PanachaikiLoan return30 November 1984 PanathinaikosFree transfer30 June 1981 AtromitosLoan termination30 June 1984 Iraklis₯1,500,00030 June 1985 OFIFree transfer30 June 1985 Rodos₯7,500,00030 June 1985 AcharnaikosLoan return30 June 1984
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 1986 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 November 1985 OlympiacosFree transfer30 June 1983 KorinthosLoan return31 December 1980
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource OlympiacosContract termination DiagorasContract termination Free agentContract termination RodosFree transfer RodosFree transfer Aris LimassolFree transfer Vyzas MegaraContract termination
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource KastoriaContract termination Korinthos₯1,000,000 AtromitosContract termination
Notes
a. plus Christos Kalaitzidis and Stelios Kaselakis as exchange. b. Plus a conduction of a friendly match between the two clubs.
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource PanelefsiniakosFree30 June 1981 AtromitosFree30 June 1981 APS PatraiFree30 June 1981 AtromitosFree30 June 1981
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource PAS GianninaFree30 June 1981
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource 30 June 198130 June 1985 30 June 198130 June 1985 30 June 198031 June 1981 30 June 198031 June 1981
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: ₯21,000,000
Winter: ₯0
Total: ₯21,000,000
Income Summer: ₯0
Winter: ₯1,000,000
Total: ₯1,000,000
Net Totals Summer: ₯21,000,000
Winter: ₯1,000,000
Total: ₯20,000,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
Matches
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Balkans Cup
Group Α
Matches
Statistics
Squad statistics
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window
Goalscorers
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then alphabetically by surname. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupBalkans CupTotal112 3 015 9 3 3153 9 0 094 7 1 085 5 1 06 5 0 16 2 3 168 4 1 059 2 1 0310 2 0 02 2 0 02 1 1 02 1 0 1214 1 0 01 0 0 11Own goals 1 0 01Totals6314 784
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Thomas Mavros Velež Mostar 3–1 (H) 5 March 1981 Balkans Cup
Clean sheets
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then alphabetically by surname. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupBalkans CupTotal1 8 2 0102 1 1 013 1 0 01Totals10 3 013
Disciplinary record
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window
Starting 11 This section presents the most frequently used formation along with the players with the most starts across all competitions.
Formation Matchday(s)444–3–31–21, 23–3424–4–222
Player Spyros IkonomopoulosGKMichalis TzirakisRCBPetros Ravousis (C)LCBStelios ManolasRBVangelis ParaprastanitisLBSpyros ThodisDMChristos ArdizoglouRCMVangelis VlachosLCMDimitrios GesiosRWThomas MavrosLWDušan BajevićCF
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database